Contributed by an Anonymous Source. Posted by john on Tuesday, October 16, 2012 at 5:00 PM (EDT)

SPIN has posted a stream of the latest album from And You Will Know Us By the Trail of Dead, titled Lost Songs. The record is due out October 22, 2012. Trail of Dead has dedicated the album to the activist band/collective Pussy Riot, and says it was inspired by "the apathy to real world events that has plagued the independent music scene now for over a decade."

After the grand majesty of 'Tao of the Dead' and 'The Century of Self', why is the album art so damn boring? I don't think it's a petty complaint; great album covers are forever, and they should serve the same allure as, say, a movie poster. Honestly, the only reason why I decided to give 'Tao' a listen was the artwork. This cover just makes me want to...go to bed in the afternoon, or something.

I'm not too fussed on the album art either, but the band made a point of doing writing / drawing / recording / playing things quickly on this album. So that's what we get. It's the only time I've ever regarded anything they've done as "mundane". I can't comment on the music, since I'm waiting for the physical release next week.

If it makes you feel better, the deluxe version of the album comes with a 180 page novel exerpt, so they're still offering something pretentious.

I'd say it's their best since So Divided. They clearly wanted to give themselves a break from all the "majesty" and sort of go back to their roots. Though my favourite songs on it are the least... garage-y.

Worlds Apart is my favourite, too. It's also the album that got me to embrace music outside of punk. It's easily one of the most important albums of all time to me. Source Tags is pretty damn close too (with "How Near, How Far" being my favourite song by anyone, ever.)

I've only listened to the two singles so far, and I don't much care for "Up to Infinity" until it gets to that instrumental breakdown. It's been a long time since they've showcased that sound, and it sounds almost as good as it did on "It Was There That I Saw You."

Worlds Apart had some great songs but it's a tie between Source Tags and Madonna for me (Mistakes and Regrets, Clair De Lune, and A Perfect Teenhood are pretty great) I agree too about "How Near, How Far", it's one of the standout tracks on the album and one of my personal favorites as well.